Showing posts with label olives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olives. Show all posts
Nicoise Bento
I was planning on taking a salade nicoise for the bento tonight, but I haven't figured out how I can pack lettuce without the leaves becoming all mushy. So this is my alternative for nicoise : steamed potatoes, tuna with black olives, green beans, carrot and an orange tomato with radish and spring onion.
For dessert I have a couple of litchi, a piece of apple, white grapes and a piece of peach.
Bon appetit.
Saveurs d'orient bento
Labels:
brocoli,
carrot,
cauliflower,
chicken,
cucumber,
grapes,
olives,
orange,
ramiro pepper,
redcurrant,
strawberries,
taboulé
·
As the title already suggests, today's bento is inspired by the Orient and more particularly, Morocco and its cuisine. I made some taboulé (couscous with tomato, onion and cucumber) to accompany a bit of lemon chicken, sprinkled with green olives. I need to finetune the recipe a bit so I will post it later on. The "greens" are mini corn cobs and cauliflower hidden under some carrot slices, brocoli rosets and ramiro pepper slices. The dessert section is composed of black and white grapes, blueberries, blackberries, redcurrant, a strawberry and orange slices.
Bon appetit.
Ginger Pork Bento
Labels:
apple,
blackberries,
blueberries,
brocoli,
cauliflower,
cherry tomatoes,
ginger pork,
grapes,
green asparagus,
green beans,
olives,
orange,
pomegranate,
potato,
radish
·
Because I still had ginger to use before it went stale, I decided to make some ginger pork for my bento last night. It's an recipe I already used for bento (and which you can find here). This time I did as Maki suggested in her book and coated some new potatoes with the ginger sauce, to accompany the meat. It smelled divine and I am sure the taste will be equally satisfying. In between the gingery elements, I added green beans, green asparagus tips, some broccoli rosets, radish, a mini cauliflower, a cherry tomato and a few olives (inspired by Ohayobento's post from yesterday). The WW total for today is 7 propoints.
As I am still battling the nasty germs, I stocked up on as many fruit vitamins as possible : white grapes, blueberries, blackberries, apple bunnies, blood orange slices, pomegranate seeds and some dried fruits (pineapple, papya, cranberries, banana).
Wishing everybody a healthy bento lunch today !
Bon appetit
Empanada de atún bento
Labels:
bento,
blueberries,
cantaloup melon,
cherry tomatoes,
cucumber,
empanada,
grapes,
lettuce,
mozarella,
nectarine,
olives,
orange,
radish
·
Spanish flavours in today's lunch, as I decided to make empanadas de atún last night to pack in our bento boxes. As it was a kind of a "spur of the moment" idea, I didn't have the time to make it completely from scratch as my MIL used to do. Luckily for me, the "organised business woman" I am, has everything she needs in her fridge and cupboard to produce these savoury pastries in a relatively short time.
As my (Spanish) Sweetie grew up with these flavours and with MIL's comida casera, cooking up a Spanish dish is always a bit tricky. No matter what I do, I'll never make things exactly the way she did. And as she sadly passed away a few years ago, I can't ask her for advice anymore neither. Nevertheless, I had to shoo someone out of the kitchen last night, who had picked up the familiar scent, trailed it back to the kitchen and was intent on stealing a few scraps out of the hot pan. I guess I can consider that a compliment :o)
So both our bento have an empanada de atún on a bed of young lettuce leaves, radishes, cucumber, tomato/mozzarella skewers and a green olives skewer. It's nice to include raw veggies again, it reminds me that sunny days are on their way and that it will soon be BBQ weather again :o)
The dessert section has grapes, cantaloup balls, orange parts, nectarine and blueberries.
How-to speedy Empanada de Atún :
Ingredients for 8 empanadas:
* 3 garlic cloves (or less, if you're not a garlic fan as we are)
* 2 red onions
* 400g of canned tuna (I used tuna in olive oil, but on brine would work too)
* 2 (bell) peppers (traditionally you'd use green ones, but I used the two red ramiro peppers I had in the fridge)
* 1 jar (400 ml) of tomate frito (my fave brand : Solis)
* 2 hardboiled eggs
* 1 egg
* 2 puff pastry sheets
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Dice the onions and peppers and finely chop the garlic. In a skillet, fry the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil, and add the peppers when the onions have glazed over.
Once the peppers are starting to tender, add the tomate frito and let it simmer for a while on low heat.
Meanwhile, drain the tuna and crumble it. Chop up the hardboiled eggs and add them together with the crumbled tuna to the tomate frito. Stir all the ingredients together and let it simmer a while longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. The filling should now be rather consistent and not watery or liquid.
Roll out the pastry sheets. The ones I had in the fridge were round ones, which aren't the easiest to use. If you make your own pastry dough you can make roll it out in a sheet, cut out round shapes, reshape the remaining dough into a new flat sheet, cut out again, etc. (empanadas are normally presented as half circles, like goyza)... But I just cut the round doughs in four, filled them and then (painstakingly) tried to close them.
Whisk the egg and brush it on top of the empanadas, before putting them in the oven for about half an hour (depending on your oven).
The empanadas are delicious hot and cold, which makes them ideal for bento.
The M4SB feat. risotto gremolata
Labels:
apple,
bell pepper,
bento,
carrot,
eggplant,
nectarine,
olives,
plum,
risotto,
soy nugget
·
After having eyed up the M4SB for two days, I decided that the time had come for this bento to make its long awaited debut and accompany me to the office.
I was surprised at the capacity of the box : it holds way more than its compact size would lead you to believe.
So for this inaugural lunch, I packed leftover risotto gremolata with an olive skewer, soy nuggets with bell pepper stars, aubergine slices on top of carrot kinpira and red bell pepper strips and finally the red dessert section holds nectarine, red plum, a part of a pink lady apple and a small Easter egg.
Bon appetit.
St. Patrick's Day bento
Labels:
apple,
bell pepper,
brocoli,
brocolini,
cucumber,
green asparagus,
iceberg lettuce,
kiwi,
kiwiberries,
olives,
pak choi,
snow peas,
sprouts,
sugar snaps
·
Not a drop of Irish blood is running through my veins, nor is Lá Fhéile Pádraig celebrated around these parts, but any holiday involving drinks, food and having a jolly good time in general is worth dedicating a bento to :o)
In my pursuit of using green items, I clearly went "a bit" overboard but the sun is shining, trees are budding, the birdies are singing to their heart's content and they even announced a peak of 18°C for tomorrow, so I think I am entitled to some green euphoria :o)
My Paddy Day bento has green rice (coloured using Maki's technique posted on JustBento.com) with a cucumber peel shamrock in a green lettuce cradle, brocolini, asperagus, baby pak choi, brocoli sprouts, leftover sausage covered with snowpeas, goat cheese maki and a orange bell pepper heart for that dash of colour. :o)
The fruit section is equally green with granny apple, grapes, kiwi slices and kiwi berries, separated from the rest with cucumber baran. And for the final touch, as Easter is nearing, pistacchio Easter eggs :o)
Sweetie's bento is also ... green, what did you expect? :o) It has as usual roughly the same ingredients : green rice with a cucumber peel shamrock, leftover sausage, snowpeas & sugarsnaps, goat cheese maki, carrot slices and orange bell pepper hearts. On the other side of the cucumber baran : granny apple, grapes, nashi, kiwi slices, kiwi berries and a little Easter egg.
Jambalaya bento
Labels:
apricot,
babybel cheese,
bento,
blueberries,
cherry tomatoes,
clementine,
cucumber,
grapes,
jambalaya,
olives,
plum,
pomegranate,
radish
·
However a new week has started and I have boarded the bento train again, at least until next Thursday. On Friday at noon, we are going to a restaurant with the whole office for our traditional New Year's lunch and after lunch we are free to go home as well. So no bento then, but an early start of the weekend. :o)
But first let's get back to today's bento. I tried for the first time to make Jamabalaya last night and the leftover portions are in today's lunchboxes. This is most definetely not the most traditional jambalaya around (I guess any real Cajun would shake his head in disbelief at my makings), but you have to try somewhere, right? Moreover as I am on a diet (yes, yes, still haven't given up :o)), I tried to keep it as low-fat as possible and it still turned out a yummy hearty winter dish.How-to Jambalaya :
First of all, I encountered a little problem with the rice while making this dish. I had to cook it for 45 minutes in order to get it tender instead of the normal 25 minutes O_o, but otherwise, it came out very tasty. I think the problem might be linked to the small burner I had to use as button operating the large burner of the stove is out of order :o( , so I'll keep the normal cooking times in this recipe.
* 120g lean breakfast bacon (can be replaced by chicken as well)
* 1 onion
* 2 garlic cloves
* 250g mushrooms
* 1 red bell pepper
* 1 tsp olive oil
* 120g brown rice (uncooked)
* 400g sifted tomatoes
* 150ml vegetable stock
* 400g gambas (pealed & cooked)
* 1 TBS parsley* a pinch of sugar
* to taste : salt, pepper, thyme (and if you like spicy, you can add tabasco sauce as well)
Bake the bacon in the teaspoon of olive oil, add the vegetables and stew.
Add the uncooked rice, tomatoes and vegetable stock. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar (and tabasco if you want) and cook for 15 minutes.
Add the gambas and heat for an additional 5 minutes, finish with the tablespoon of parsley (and thyme).
Sweetie's monkey bento had the same ingredients (1) in the square tupper : jambalaya, cucumber, green olives and some cherry tomatoes. and (2) in the fruit sidecar: clementine, white and blue grapes, apricot and plum.I am wishing you all a great and yummilicious new bento week !
Mid-week bentos
Labels:
babybel cheese,
bell pepper,
bento,
brocoli,
cappellini,
carrot,
cucumber,
kumato,
olives,
pasta,
radish,
smoked salmon,
surimi,
yellow turnip
·
Yesterday evening was a bit hectic and I didn't have a lot of time to spend on my bentos. So these ones ended up in the quick and easy range :o) But that doesn't mean they aren't tasteful of course!
A little round bento for me today, perfect for leftovers from last night's cappellini alla bolognese.
In the top tier : yellow turnip slices, brocoli, babybel cheese, half of a kumato filled with homemade surimi "salad", cucumber stars and red bell pepper flowers on leek sprouts and 2 green olives to fill in the remaining space.
For those who wonder about the kumato, you should check out this website. It's a sweet, dark tomato, that not only taste devine but looks fabulous in any dish (although granted, you can't see too much of it in the top picture).
The surimi salad is very easy to make and can be used as spread or as a filler for tomatoes or other veggies.
How to :
Take two surimi sticks and roll them open in order to have two small "sheets". Slice them up (horizontally and vertically) until you have small pieces. Mixed these pieces with freshly chopped parsley and chives and add a teaspoon of mayo or sour cream. And that's it :o)
The second bento I made, seemed Ok last night, but looking at the picture now, it seems a bit empty ... :o(
Top tier : smoked salmon/salad/zucchini wraps, olives and a red bell pepper filled with the surimi salad.
Bottom tier : kumato and yellow turnip slices, brocoli, radish and my first attempt at "merging" vegetables. Not the crisp look I was going for but I guess it takes some practicing. Better next time :o)
Bon appetit.
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